man is the one who said he confessed in a jail cell. levy's family says fine with keeping the hearings private. >> there's nothing we can do to bring our daughter back. no matter what happens. it still leaves us with pain. >> yeah. >> whether it's private, not, doesn't matter in my opinion. >> we're hoping to get answers about the latest developments in the case. the d.c. court of appeals will rule whether details of the previous hearing will be made public. coming up on 4:31 now. want to start off the morning with a look at your forecast. storm team 4 meteorologist meteorologist is -- meteorologist tom kierein is here with details. it got cold overnight. temperatures in prince george's county, mid 20s. also mid 20s in montgomery county. right now, it's near 30 in the district of columbia and arlington. the rest of fairfax county into northern virginia, only the mid 20s this morning. we've got a lot of cloudiness moving in. we have a late wind, as well. and as we take a look at the

view from space and the satellite/radar, not showing precipitation here. and as we sfwloom on prince william county, manassas, that's the wholetown forecast location. by noontime, it will be around 40 with cloudiness. here's how we're looking throughout the region for the morning hours through noontime. we'll have maybe a little sun breaking out between now and 6:00, :this morning. still below freezing. getting above freezing maybe around 8:00, 9:00. by noontime, the upper 30s to near 40 with a lot of cloudiness. our sunrise is at 7:08. getting earlier and earlier. sunsets getting later and later at 5:37 today. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. first 4 traffic on this thursday with danella. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. tom, in our area, quiet as far as volume. now i am seeing some roadwork. to the beltway, this is where construction was happening. traveling the inner loop, it's reported this time river road. and it is blocking the right lane. now heading over to the outer loop of the beltway just past

braddock road, construction there was reportedly allowing the right lane, just the right lane to get by. did check the cameras in the area. as far as volume, it's light around the beltway. you should be able to work around it. to i-95, this time as you make your way southbound at 216, at that point did have two right lanes blocked by the roadwork there. i-95, cameras here very light volume, no issues as you work your way around that work zone. i'm back in ten minutes. aaron? >> thank you. now a local deli owner is recovering from severe burns after someone firebombed his shop. this happened yesterday at the sub shop in lorton, virginia. this morning the restaurant is boarded up. the culprit still on the loose. in an interviewer you'll see only on news4, the owner, lawrence reece, says he doesn't even remember the blast that almost killed him. >> i was in my truck. i turned back to look back inside the store. i could look up -- boom,

explosion. >> news4 has learned that same store was vandalized last year. reece says he does not think the blast was an accident. he says he hopes it reopen his shop as soon as he recovers. today president obama will speak at the national prayer breakfast this morning in northwest at the washington hilton. the president will meet with religious and community leaders from across the nation taking part in the 61st annual prayer breakfast. this is video from last year where he said he relies on his faith and values to guide him. the national prayer breakfast has been held every year since 1953. after that breakfast, the president will head to leesburg, virginia. he will speak at the house democratic issues conference going on at the lansdowne resort. vice president biden spoke to the group yesterday. he said the world has changed since 1994 when congress passed an assault weapons ban. many blamed the vote for costing democrats control of the house and senate. that ban has since expired. now to the live desk and

breaking news. good morning. we want to get right to the video just in. look at this here. allegedly aerial footage that was broadcast on iran state tv late wednesday night. iran claims it's video extracted from the cia sentinel drone captured in 2011. the footage shows an airport in a surrounding city said to be kandahar in afghanistan. it also shows the drone allegedly landing at a base in eastern iran. now iran claimed it took control of the drone and landed it, but u.s. officials say the drone malfunctioned, and it was forced it land. that is the latest from the newscast. back to you. >> all right. thanks. it could be a grueling day for president obama's pick to head the cia. john brennan will face tough questions from democrats and republicans during his confirmation hearing. brennan, who is the president's chief counterterrorism adviser now, is under scrutiny for the administration's use of drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists overseas. the senate intelligence committee will also likely grill him over his support for the

bush administration's interrogation policies. brennan served in the cia under president george w. bush. today is defense secretary leon panetta's turn to answer questions about september's deadly attack in benghazi, libya. he and the chairman of the joint chiefs will testify before the senate armed services committee. they will discuss the results of the defense department's internal review of the attack on the u.s. consulate. four americans were killed there including ambassador chris stevens. the threat of huge budget cuts next smooth forcing the pentagon to make a drastic move this morning. defense secretary leon panetta says the number of aircraft carriers stationed in the critical persian gulf is being reduced from two to one. the decision comes just one day before the uss harry truman was to leave norfolk for the gulf. two carrier groups have been kept in the region for most of the past two years because of rising tensions with iran. and we've learned the man chosen to replace leon panetta as defense secretary will not receive a confirmation vote today as originally planned. the senate armed services

committee decided to delay the vote on former senator chuck hagel after demands for more information from republicans. several senators have asked for more detail of hagel's business dealings and contents of past speeches. democrats say the move is just political posturing, and they fully expect hagel to be confirmed. 4:36. florida senator marco rubio will deliver the republican response to the president's state of the union address. the 41-year-old cuban american lawmaker spoke at last year's republican national convention. he's part of a bipartisan effort to craft a comprehensive immigration reform bill. rubio was elected to the senate in 2010. he will now give the gop's rebuttal on tuesday after the presidential address. some rare praise from virginia democrats for the republican speaker of the house. they're commending speaker bill howell for killing a gop redistricting plan. howell ruled that the moment which would have redrawn senate district lines was not relevant to the legislation it was attached to. senate republicans pushed through the redistricting plan

on january 21. it was the one day that it had a majority in the senate because one democrat was in washington for the president's inauguration. democrats say howell ignored partisan politics to make the right decision. >> he showed true political courage. he was a profile in courage. and his decision was well thought out. >> like a baseball umpire, he called it as he saw it. and you know, this time he saw it in a direction that obviously was favorable to us. >> democrats had threatened to block governor mcdonald's transportation plan in response to the redistricting plan. they say they're now willing to cooperate. 4:37. ahead on "news4 today," the move one maryland school system is doing to protect students just as we learn of a potentially dangerous situation at another school. crime alert. the warning for metro riders this morning before you head out to catch a bus or train. and the calm before the storm. from sunshine to snow.

it's a dash to the top of the new york skyline. last night two people from australia won the annual empire state building run-up. several hundred people from around the world competed the race from the lobby to the observation deck of the skyscraper. it took the winner ten mint and 12 second to -- minuteses and 12 seconds to climb the stairs,

1,576 steps. >> how far do you think you'd get before you collapsed? >> second floor. maybe the third floor. having a good day. >> all right. 4:41. time to check the forecast. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here. tom? good morning, as we start off, clouds coming over the region now. it's cold. and we have temperatures below freezing all around the region this morning, across northern virginia, maryland, the district, it's in the mid to upper 20s. near 30 in washington, near the chesapeake bay. it's in the upper 20s. we're going to have the possibility of a wintry mix tonight. between now and then, cloudiness. highs reaching the low efforts by mid-afternoon. the -- low 40s by mid-afternoon. the full forecast coming up in ten minutes. danella? good morning. first of all, head over to activities. they're not seeing any issues out of haymarket heading toward the beltway and inside the beltway on 66. travel lanes are open. down i-95 in virginia, out of stafford, traveling northbound. again, no issues. we'll take a live look making

your pay past the lorton area. clear in both directions. same from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. back to you. >> thank you. coming up on 4:42 now. hear from the relatives now speaking out after a boy held hostage in alabama was released. plus, who's saying not so fast on cuts announced from th

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and salted, roasted peanuts. sweet and salty nut bars by nature valley. nature at its most delicious. good morning, i'm at the live desk with breaking news out of bowie. we're told that maryland state police is investigating a fatal pedestrian accident. we're told it happened around 12:48 this morning. the victim was walking northbound in the southbound lanes of route 301 at pointer ridge road. we're told the driver did stay on the scene. the victim, we're told, is a 39-year-old male from bowie, maryland. you see from the pictures police are still investigating what happened. we'll continue to follow this and bring you the latest.

guys, back to you. >> tony, thank you. today, prince george's county schools decide whether to implement new safety measures in the wake of the shooting at sandy hook in december. according to the "washington post," the board of education will be given recommendations today that include requiring every person entering a county school to show identification. the schools would also hold two large-scale drills each year including a lockdown drill next month and an active shooter drill in april. this morning, a man is undergoing a mental evaluation for trespassing in an anne arundel school just before police made a shocking discovery in his home. police say 25-year-old justin beaumont walked into north county high school in glen burnie, monday. he told police he was a student there more than a decade ago and was bullied. when they arrested him they found several weapons. after sandy hook, they weren't taking any chances. >> post connecticut, we have got to recognize as an agency, a

nation, as a state that our schoolchildren, we have to take these kind of precautionary, thorough investigative steps to make sure that we do everything we can to keep them safe. >> police say beaumont did own the guns legally, and he was not armed when he was inside the school. d.c. police need your help to find the man who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a teenager. look at this sketch. this is the man police are looking for. he attacked a 16-year-old girl as she walked to school in northeast. this was last week. police say he grabbed her and forced her into his suv. he drove for a little while, groped her, and then let her go. a maryland woman who works for prince george's county government is now suing the county and her employers at the department of health. oreida treadwell says her boss sexually harassed her. the county investigated accusations against christopher oledipo and ruled the harassment probably did happen. treadwell said she even got a

peace order against her boss, but he violated it. the office conducted an internal investigation and took the appropriation action. today an autopsy scheduled for a man who held a 5-year-old boy hostage for nearly a week. investigators hope to determine the official cause of death of jimmy lee dykes. he was found dead in his home made bunker after the fbi stormed in and exchanged gunfire with him. the family of the school bus driver who was shot and killed trying to keep dykes from taking the boy say they are glad the situation is over. >> every time my dad got on a bus, it wasn't for transporting somebody else's kids, it was his kids. he took them as his own. i think that's the reason my dad did what he did. >> the fbi says they expect to spend at least two more days collecting evidence at the scene. 13 before the top of the hour. don't write our saturday mail delivery yet. several members of congress say they may challenge the postal service's plan to cut back to a five-day-a-week schedule. the postmaster general announced

the ban yesterday. congress banned the cut in its continuing budget resolution that expires next month. attorneys for the postal service, though, say the agency has the legal right to make the change. today family, friends, and colleagues will say a final good-bye to a prince george's county civil rights pioneer. tonight is the viewing for former maryland delegate christine jones. he died after rescuers pulled her from her burning home in temple hills. jones was the first african-american to represent prince george's county in the maryland general assembly. she was 83 years old. funeral services will happen at bethlehem baptist church on martin luther king avenue in southeast. the viewing is tonight from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. the service is tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. a reminder to put away your iphones and other high-tech gadgets when you ride the metro. the agency says thefts are on the rise. metro police say there have been 31 reported electronic device thefts between january 13 and the 26th. that's up from the first two weeks of the year when 19

devices were stolen. metro says thieves are ripping smartphones and tablets out of riders' hands. metro says thieves tend to target women. the agency encourages riders to use gps tracking software on your devices. a 25-year-old in critical condition after the car he was driving was hit by a train check out the damage to the car afterwards. police say it looks like the man tried to speed up to beat that csx train. this is at the cherry tree crossing in brandybine, maryland. -- brandywine, maryland. there are no gates but warning lights were flashing at train approached. the threat of a major winter storm barreling toward the northeast has several major airlines waving change fees. delta, american, and jetblue are allowing passengers a bun-time change to their -- one-time change to their flight for free if you are scheduled to fly tomorrow or saturday to several northeast cities. usairways and southwest says they will also offer travelers a chance to change flights. parts of the northeast could see

up to two feet of snow. of course, we're going to wonder if any snow will come our way. >> yeah. i changed a flight for tomorrow myself actually. >> but? goodness, i'm worried about. here's a live look across the district. you see the clouds there, tom kierein's here to tell us what to expect. >> for us, the storm's going to be missing us as far as the snow is concerned. maybe a few flurries saturday. big changes on the way. we'll have the rain moving in. might start as a bit of a wintry milk. 32 at reagan national under a cloudy sky. that's the warm spot. elsewhere, 20s across northern virginia and into maryland. and we're going to stay here in the mid to upper 20s for the next few hours. we've had these clouds closing in from the south and west ahead of the rain system that's going to be moving in later today. hour by hour through the day, through 8:00 a.m., near or below freezing. then by noontime, the upper 30s. a lot of cloudiness, a light southeast wind coming in by noontime. going forward, cloudiness through the day. this as of 4:00 p.m.

by midnight, we'll begin to see precipitation moving up our way. the area in green is rain. and it may begin briefly as a little bit of sleet and snow. it's going to be mostly rain as of friday at 3:00 p.m. most of the heavier rains will be to the east. this area in lavender, these are snow showers and flurries that may come in late friday into saturday morning with some strong, gusty winds as that storm develops and hits from new york city to boston with all that heavy snow. so here's how things are looking. maybe a little of the mix late tonight. and we'll have temperatures down to the mid 30s by dawn friday. the mix comes in, it's going to be melting on roadways. then rain, much of the rest of the day on friday. highs reaching the upper 40s tomorrow afternoon. then it's friday night into saturday morning, we're going to have the winds gusting maybe to 40 miles per hour as temperatures plummet to the 20s. we may get a few passing flurries and a few passing snow showers on saturday. sun back saturday with highs in the 30s to around 40. by dawn sunday, down to the mid

20s, but a lighter wind. sunday afternoon doesn't look as mild as it was looking the last couple of days. maybe the mid 40s with sunshine. 30s on monday morning. there's a chance of some rain moving in during the day on monday with highs in the upper 40s. then looks milder tuesday into wednesday. highs on tuesday may make it into the mid 50s. and on wednesday, up around 50. could get more rain again on wednesday. again, stay tuned if you plan on traveling north and east of washington from new york city bo new england. that is going to be maybe an historic storm for those folks there. so stay with us. we'll keep you posted on that. there could be major travel problems there tomorrow and into saturday morning. i'll be back in ten minutes. danella has a look at traffic. good morning. good morning. tom, still quiet in our area. the first 4 traffic office. i'm checking for accidents. traveling in the district, not seeing reports of accidents for you. as well as bridges, they're looking good if you're travel 1g 4th street bridge, anacostia bridges, 11th street bridge, no

issues to report. d.c., too, 95 toward greenbelt, you are clear here, as well. and you know what, we'll check the beltway now. this time we'll look past 50. in fact, along the beltway between 50, inner loop and outer loop heading toward the wilson bridge. a live look wilson bridge in both directions. traffic getting by without any issues. i'm back in ten minutes. we'll check the roads then. >> thank you. today is a very special day for some young musicians who have taken a long journey to get here to washington. musicians from the afghanistan national institute of music will perform tonight at the kennedy center. here they were in bethesda earlier this week hearing a performance by the holton arms school in pez. a junior -- in bethesda. a junior there will join them for tonight's show. the musicians will play in new york and boston next week. >> what a great story and a terrific journey. i hope i get to listen to them before they leave. >> quite an honor at the kennedy

center. a new digital milestone proving we've moved into a new era of music and entertainment. ahead, edits made to a popular super bowl commercial to be more politically correct. here you go little man.

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this morning a popular gourmet market in georgetown is shut down because of a health violation. the d.c. health department closed dean and deluca on m

street because of vermin. records indicate the store has had two other health complaints in the last few years. the market is shut down until further notice. a health alert this morning. we've just learned that scientists discovered a new strain of whooping cough that may be resistant to vaccines. they published findings in today's "new england journal of medicine." the new strain had been reported in japan, france, and finland. doctors say the discovery may help explain why the u.s. just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. whooping cough was common until a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. here's a question for you -- should workers jet get over-- get overtime pay for reading emails after hours. that's the focus of a federal lawsuit. a chicago police sergeant is suing claiming it owes him and fellow officers overtime pay for answering and replying to work-related issues on the company-issued blackberry. the suit claims police leaders forced their officers to respond

to after-hour questions but told them not to file for overtime. if the officers win, they could get millions of dollars in back pay. apple just reached a new milestone. its itunes store set a record with 25 billion songs sold. the song "monkey drums" by chase buck is the 25 billionth download. the lucky customer in germany won an itunes gift card worth more than $13,000. itunes store launched in 2003 and has 26 million songs in its catalog. i'm stauck on the smartphone story. if you should be paid for work you do off the clock but -- with e-mailing and answering calls. >> depends on your company. we to a lot of work off the clock. i don't think that goes toward our paycheck. >> maybe it should. i think it might. maybe. stay with us, "news4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m.

two strms ta-- two systems combine for a nasty week. we're tracking what it means in the coming days. he's convicted in one of the most high-pr hiehigh-file murde our time. more on the cheeandra levy investigation. good morning, i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" on this thursday, february 7, 2013. we're talking about rain, wind, possible snow for parts of the area. >> let's turn to storm team 4 meorologist tom kierein for details. good morning, temperatures dropped 20 to 25 degrees since yesterday afternoon. below freezing around the region. you need the warm winter coat on this thursday morning. now in washington, temperatures right near the freezing mark. in the suburbs in prince george's county, right now just into the 20s. it's in the 20s now in montgomery county, arlington, fairfax. generally mid to upper 20s most locations there. and we have a lot of cloudiness, been passing over the region. storm team 4 radar not showing any precip